Scottish place names in Auckland (but not Avondale)

Ian Kendall from Melbourne in Australia has a page on Rampant Scotland.com on place names in Auckland. I found it by chance while ferreting for stuff about Henderson's Mill. The entry for Avondale, however, isn't correct.

"Avondale (Shetland Islands; also Avondale Castle in South Lanarkshire) but the name is found in England and Ireland as well as in Scotland. According to Dymock (1994, p. 17), this suburb was named in honour of the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, eldest son of King Edward VII. Like Albany (see above), Avondale is a Scottish title used by the British Royal Family. As explained in an article on the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, retrieved from Wikipedia in April 2009, this was the last royal dukedom to be created with two territorial designations. After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the holders of the (English) title 'Duke of Clarence' were also given titles including Scottish place names, such as St Andrews and Avondale. The title 'Avondale' refers to Avondale Castle in South Lanarkshire, also known as Strathaven Castle - now a ruin and a Scheduled Ancient Monument accessible to the public (Wikipedia article on Strathaven Castle, retrieved in April 2009)."

As I wrote in an email to Mr. Kendall on 2 June:

"Dear Mr. Kendall,

The Auckland suburb of Avondale was not named after the Duke of Clarence and Avondale. Prince Albert Victor was granted those titles nearly a decade (May 1890) after Avondale was gazetted with its name (June 1882, a change from the Whau District). The name Avondale is most likely of Irish origin, not Scottish, as the Chairman of the Road Board at the time, John Bollard, came from County Wicklow, Ireland, near the Avondale Demesne and homestead of Avondale, Charles Parnell's home.

Regards,

Lisa J Truttman
President
Avondale-Waterview Historical Society"

He responded by asking for the reference to this -- and I cited Heart of the Whau (2003). The part where all this is explained is online at Scribd. To date, he hasn't amended his page, but I'm sure he will in time.

It goes to show that while you can make an assumption in terms of history, it always pays to check out whether that assumption is correct. In this case, using tertiary sources wasn't a good idea (checking to see if there was a historical society for the area would have been!) Even if he'd checked the Wiki article on Prince Albert Victor against the early references to Avondale in Papers Past (July 1882), he would have seen the anomaly behind the assumption that Avondale's naming was in any way connected with royalty. But the first reference there is to land sold on an estate once owned by a son of Scotland: Robert Chisholm.

Update (6 July 2009): Ian Kendall has updated his page now, he's advised in an email to me. Looks great! Many thanks, Ian.

Pt Chevalier Times Issue 5

Fifth issue of the Pt Chevalier Times is out (better late than never ...)

The Community Archive

Another link added to the list at the left: The Community Archive, a website collecting together the contact and holdings details of institutions up and down the country, replacing the older National Register site. According to the Wairarapa News, it launched just last week.

A couple of Google research tools

Google News Timeline. Enter a date and other keywords, and watch references come up from online sources which may help with research -- or just to have a bit of fun.

Google News Archive Search. This is very good, and also helps to present items found in chronological order, so that you can sort out the relevant from not so relevant.

Wooden headstones and footstones at St Peter's Cemetery, Onehunga

 Updated 19 December 2013.

LOSS OF H. M S. 'ORPHEUS.'

The Rev. Charles B Haslewood — In the Darlington Telegraph, of April 11th, appeared the following notice of this lamented young clergyman, who was last seen on board his ship, cheering and assisting one of the sick from below to a place of comparative safety:

"Among the families most nearly connected m the loss of H. M. S. 'Orpheus,' is that of our respected townsman, Dr. Haslewood. It is with profound regret that we have to record the death of the eldest son of this gentleman, the Rev. C. B. Haslewood, MA., chaplain, and naval instructor of the ill fated vessel. These are doubtless details in the life of the deceased which, in a merely ordinary acquaintance, many of our townsmen are unaware of. We therefore give them with high satisfaction, though scarcely enhancing the sterling nature of his character to those who understood him best. The rev gentleman was a first class man in the classical, and a fourth in the mathematical tripos in the University of Durham. He also gained several scholarships, as well as the distinction of Latin prose prizeman and Fellow of the University. He served as chaplain in the Royal Navy, in H. M ships ' Pearl,' ' Royal George,' and ' Nile,' and subsequently as chaplain and naval instructor combined, in the ' Cyclops, on particular service in the Red Sea ; and, lastly, in the ' Orpheus,' on the Australian station. As an affecting reminiscence of the love with which he was regarded on board the ' Cyclops,' we may mention that he was presented with a testimonial by the petty officers and seamen on the termination of that ship's commission. For a short time previous to his appointment as chaplain, he fulfilled the parochial ministration of St Cuthbert's, in this town , and it is no slight source of consolation to his afflicted relations to be assured of the grateful esteem in which those ministrations are remembered by the humbler classes of the parishioners The rev. gentleman has left a widow to mourn his loss, and a little girl, of a year old, born, subsequently to his embarkation in the ' Orpheus,' who will, we hope, prove the instrument of an all gracious Providence in soothing and comforting her widowed years."

(SC, 23 July 1863)

"H.M. steam corvette Niger, 13 guns, Captain Cracroft, has received orders to proceed from Manukau to New Plymouth forthwith, for which place she is to embark 250 officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of the 57th Regt., under the command of Major Logan. This will leave about 40 of this gallant corps behind. The 57th Regt. will parade this morning, in the Albert Barrack Square, at 8 o'clock, from whence they will march across to Onehunga, there to embark in the Niger, which will sail about 2 p.m. Commodore Seymour returns, by the same opportunity, to the seat of war. It is probable that the Niger will remain for some time off the Taranaki coast. Last week, a melancholy death by drowning took place in the person of one of the seamen of this ship named Griffith, a fine young man and a general favourite. He was assisting to anchor one of the ship's boats when he unfortunately fell overboard : it was at first supposed that he had been dragged over, and the anchor was subsequently weighed, but without effect. The body was recovered in about an hour, and interred in the Churchyard of Onehunga on Sunday last, amidst the general regrets, and followed by a large concourse of his sorrowing shipmates."

(SC, 23 February 1861)

The A.B. after his name could stand for "able seaman".

As for George Perry ... Nothing on the BDM database at all. A farmer named George Perry arrived in Auckland on the African, 1864 (SC, 6 September 1862) That's all I have to date. As a Captain of the Forecastle, George Perry, whoever he was, would have been the equivalent of a chief petty officer. But, he's "late" of the HMS Niger. Did he ceased to serve on her, and died in retirement?

NEGLECTED GRAVES.
(To the Editor.)
Sir, I noticed when in the Church of England cemetery, Queen Street, Onehunga, yesterday afternoon, three headstones (or headboards, I should say, perhaps, for I think they are made of kauri), erected by the men of H.M.S. Ringarooma to the memory of Rev. C. Haslewood, HMS Orpheus, drowned Manukau Heads, 7th February, 1863. This board has fallen down, rotted through at the base. James Griffiths, able seaman, HMS. Niger, drowned Manukau Harbour, 16th February, 1861, and George Perry, captain of the forecastle, HMS. Niger, 31st December, 1860.

As an old Navy man, I felt sorry that a more permanent memorial had not been erected to these men who, we feel sure, were faithful and zealous in the service of their country and Queen. These few lines I trust will catch the eye of some of the members of the Navy League and the Victoria League, which is doing such good work in looking after the old soldiers' graves, and I trust that they will be interested enough to try and raise enough money (about £15 would do it) to erect a permanent memorial to these men.

We bear a lot of talk about patriotism, and it is well to foster the true spirit of patriotism, and one way to do it is to honour the last resting place of those who have done their part to keep the dear old Union Jack flying over this part of our great Empire. —I am, etc., ANDREW MILLER. 

Auckland Star,  8 August 1913, p. 9

This bit was found by Liz Clark:

Some men of H. M.S. Ringarooma, under chief carpenter's mate, Mackenzie, paid an official visit to St. Peter's Cemetery, Onehunga, yesterday. Their object was a most commendable one., viz., to clear away bush and undergrowth from the graves of sailors who lay buried there. After removing an immense amount of rubbish, the following inscriptions were visible on the tombstones, which should be interesting: —(1) "To the memory of George Perry," late captain forecastle of H.M.s. Niger, December 31st, 1860,, aged 44. Weep not for me my comrades dear, I am not dead,' but sleeping hero; My soul lies here beneath the sod, My spirit enters rest' with God."—(2) "To James Griffiths, an able seaman, who was drowned in the Manukau Harbour, February 16th, 1861, aged 20. I was duty-called thus to attend, Which brought me to thisa sudden end, Dear friends, grieve not, but trust that I May live with God eternally." (3) "To Chaplin Hazeworth, of H.M.s. Orpheus, February 7th, 1863."

Auckland Star 1 October 1892

Ken Maunder Park, by Phil Hanson

My thanks to guest contributor Phil Hanson for the following piece he put together on Ken Maunder Park in New Lynn, and the story behind the name.

One of my dog’s preferred walks is around Ken Maunder Park on the eastern edge of New Lynn where it meets Avondale, and surrounded on three sides by the Whau River. The park has for years been a well-known sports ground but lately, as Georgie sniffs from tree to tree, I’ve become curious about its history.


And what an interesting past this unremarkable-looking park turns out to have. It’s also had something of an identity crisis; Ken Maunder Park is its third name. Originally Binsted Road Reserve, it later became Rewa Park before assuming the present name in 1970.


The park enjoys a small connection to New Zealand’s early aviation history. In 1911 the syndicate backing the brothers Leo and Vivian Walsh and their American Howard Wright biplane Manurewa handed the aircraft after a disagreement to Australian pilot Frederick Sandford and his kiwi “business manager” Billy Miller. The pair substantially modified the aircraft and began trials at Avondale racecourse, where it promptly hit a fence on Feb 29, 1913. The book, The History of New Zealand Aviation (Ewing and MacPherson, 1986) reports, “ The second [flight] several weeks later, was even more short lived when a dog leapt into the propeller blades.”

The Sandford-Miller biplane above Avondale Racecourse. Photo from Weekly News, 6 November 1913,
p. 40, via Special Collections, Auckland City Libraries (N.Z.)

A number of successful flights were made, as covered in the Timespanner post of Sept 29, 2008. On August 31 (but said by the History of NZ Aviation to be August 20), with Miller on board as passenger, the engine failed at about 250 feet and the biplane made a forced landing at the paddock “against Binsted’s slaughterhouse”. (This from The New Lynn Reserves Management Plan 2004, pp.71-73) I’m not sure of the exact location of the slaughterhouse but it seems likely to have been on or very near the land that now comprises the park. After repairing the motor, Sandford successfully took off. Although this has been credited as the first “cross-country” flight in New Zealand, research in more recent times has cast doubt on the claim, according to The History of NZ Aviation.

There was another brush with aviation 54 years later when the park was considered as a possible heliport location. The proposal was rejected because, as the Western Leader reported in May 1967, “sports activities would have to be adjourned to allow landings and takeoffs.” Life was so much simpler in the days before OSH!

Not all of the park’s history has been as glamorous. In 1927, the trustees of the Binsted Estate were complaining to the council about the continued use of the site as a nightsoil dump. From at least the 1940s it was a council rubbish tip. In October 1951, the Binsted estate sold land to the council that allowed the area’s gradual transformation into a recreational reserve. The trustees wrote: “As the property has been in the Binsted family for over 60 years they would be pleased if your council could see their way to call the property Binsted Park.”

However, in October 1956 for a reason I have not been able to uncover, the name changed to Rewa Park. By then, the transformation to reserve was well underway, the New Lynn Municipal Election Supplement 1956 reporting levelling was being done for two football fields, and a mangrove gully was being reclaimed by dumping rubbish into it. By 1963, the now-closed bridge to Queen Mary Avenue was built. The bridge is due for replacement this year.



A three-stage development was proposed in 1968; construction of a soccer field; alternations to the main playing area and extra soccer fields; and roading and drainage. Two years later, the name was changed for the third time to Ken Maunder Park.

Photo: Ken Maunder – from the Western Leader via Waitakere Libraries.

So who was Ken Maunder? An obituary in the Western Leader 18.11.69 said he was a member of New Lynn Borough Council from 1955 to 1962 and from 1955 until his death in Middlemore Hospital, aged 57. He was president of the Auckland Local Bodies Association 1960-62 and the borough’s deputy mayor from 1959 to 1962. In addition to membership of the New Lynn branch of the Labour Party, he was widely active in the community, particularly sport and especially rugby and bowls. Mr Maunder was a president of the New Lynn Bowling Club, a supporter of the Suburbs Rugby Club, a rugby coach and a member of the New Lynn primary school.

A surprise mural on the Newmarket Line

My apologies for the blurriness of the image -- I was able to take one shot from inside a moving suburban train heading back out west to Avondale this afternoon. I'll try to get a better shot if I can over the next few days.

I spotted this mural along the rail line between Newmarket and the Parnell Rail Tunnel yesterday. At least today, I've got something to show you.

We need more little treasures like this along the rail line. I do hope it's graffiti-guarded ...

A gift from an unknown draughtsman

In my work, I deal with early survey and subdivision plans a lot. I have a deep love of maps, and these types are no exception. Having downloaded a plan today from the Landonline site, I never noticed some of the finer detail until just now, when I had a breather, and could take a closer look.

The above detail comes from Deed S 26 (Crown copyright, Land Information NZ), the subdivision of J. C. Hill's estate in 1859, called Hillsboro and Queenstown (part of today's Hillsborough and Onehunga suburbs). "The Bluff" is today called White Bluff, between Granny's Bay and Hillsborough Bay, along the northern coast of the Manukau Harbour.

Some Lands and Survey draughtsman, perhaps thinking the plan needed that extra little bit of detail, added the sketch of a steamer with sails, puffing away from the bluff out across the harbour. Sorry, I couldn't find any reference as to who the artist was.

Matariki

Saw this interesting article by Paul Moon in the Herald today, on Matariki and just what it may be supposed to mean. I'm still not quite convinced, personally, that the modern incarnation isn't just some marketing mob's idea to take a Maori tradition and turn it into the counter-balance for the Western New Year and the Chinese Lunar one -- thereby creating another event to spend our money on. For me, it suddenly seemed to leap up into the calendar out of nowhere -- around the same time I was told by local Ngati Whatua that the tip or near to the tip of Rosebank Peninsula was once Rangi Matatariki, a late 18th century battleground as well as seasonal settlement. (Since then, I've seen the plan for our Matariki Settlement as well.)

It may indeed raise public awareness of our dual cultural heritage here. On the other hand, as Moon writes:

"Hopefully Matariki will endure, if for no other reason than because it is an instructive part of our heritage, and is something unique to our country. But without greater attention to issues of historical and cultural accuracy, it could become yet another state-sponsored Trojan Horse for the Maori renaissance that never quite got through the gates."

Coronation Bridge, Henderson

I think that this could be a "Beware of the taniwha" sign.

This is Coronation Bridge, Henderson, the pedestrian accessway from Henderson Valley Road up the southern side of Great North Road towards the Corban Arts Centre and beyond. With the frosty mornings we've had this last week, the surface iced up.

Why am I posting this? Well, it seems that the date when it opened has been incorrectly noted for posterity by various histories of the district. Easy enough to do -- given that all they had to go on was the bottom plaque. No date of opening -- just when King George V was coronated (hence, the established name of the bridge.)

But, because I am an Avondale history collector, and John Bollard (father of Avondale's name) was our most influential resident for most of the 19th century history of settlement here -- when I saw an article one time in the library about him, as MP, opening the Henderson bridge, I grabbed it and filed it. Only a chance comment by a West Auckland historian over the weekend dredged it back out again.

The bridge was actually opened by Bollard, as MP for Eden (where the site of the bridge was c.1909, when they first started thinking it was a good idea) on 14 November 1912. By then, the bridge was no longer in Eden, due to boundary changes, but that didn't seem to matter much; the other bloke, A. Harris the MP for Waitemata, was there as well, but Bollard did the formalities.

"The township of Henderson presented a very gay appearence on Saturday, when the new ferro-concrete Coronation Bridge was opened by Mr. J. Bollard, M.P. The bridge was prettily decorated with greenery and bunting, and a number of decorated carts and waggons filled with school children added to the gaiety of the scene. Practically the whole population of the township, and a large number of visitors from other districts, including the majority of the members of the Waitemata County Council, attended the ceremony." (NZ Herald, 16 December 1912)

The Great North Road was realigned to lead to and from the new bridge, and everyone went away quite happy.

I have but one, non-historical, bugbear: the bridge, you see, was designed for primarily wheeled traffic. Yes, pedestrians used it too, but it was to provide an access for drays -- and situated so the horses weren't alarmed too much by the trains. Today, it's just for pedestrians , the road has deviated again, and passes alongside. All well and good -- until you see what passes as a pedestrian access along Great North Road above the bridge today:

Yes, this is a carpark. It is also a footpath, of sorts. Walking up here in winter to meetings of the local historical society is a bit worrying.

The footpath starts up again at the end of the carpark. From here, you've got a clear path up to Lincoln Road and beyond. But -- why can't we have a footpath below??

Mainline Steam open day at Sturges Road Station

Mainline Steam will soon have to move from their present base at Parnell, which is land owned by KiwiRail. The good news is that there's another site available, also owned by KiwiRail -- at Paremuka, beside Henderson's Western Heights. Some of the local residents, however, aren't all that keen. So, today, Mainline Steam held an open day at the Sturges Road Station, just up from Henderson. This included free rides in carriages drawn by Ja 1275, an oil-fired steam locomotive.

Sturges Road Station has relatively recently had an upgrade as part of the double tracking for the Western Line. Today, in the sun and with steam train sounds in the air, it looked great.

I think all toilets near railway stations should look like this, if not better. The roof architecture looks like a nod to the George Troup-inspired designs of early stations.

And now, a series of rail photos. My apologies -- I like trains. Quite a lot, it seems. Slightly larger versions available by clicking on them.

Ja 1275 steaming up, about to reverse out of the station to take another load of passengers to check out the proposed new workshops site.

And, here's a brief video of Ja 1275 coming back. Hopefully the sounds make up for the low-res result.

Railway heritage links

It's a frosty morning here on the Avondale ridge ...

Waiting for my morning coffee to take effect, and spurred on by Jayne's latest entry on her wonderful blog, I've nicked the NZ Ghost Railways link from there ... and added a search page link to the NZHPT site regarding NZ rail stuff.

Auckland’s 19th century desperado: Isaac Robinson

Image from Wiki.

(Updated 8 September 2020)

Isaac Robinson was, in 1865, a 25-year-old (or 31 years old, the accounts vary) 5’ 8” tall Irish (County Tyrone) Roman Catholic ex-soldier, a twice-deserter from the 40th regiment, illiterate, with blond hair and blue-eyes. Nothing at the moment is known of his early life, but there is a first trace of Private Isaac Robinson of the 40th regiment, based at Birr, County Offaly, in Ireland (possibly the Crinkle Barracks) having deserted four years after enlistment, and been recaptured and sentenced on 23 August 1858 to 84 days imprisonment, stopped pay, and the brand of “D” for deserter seared into his flesh. 

On 29 May 1860, another trial for Robinson, for being absent without leave, “losing the necessaries” (his uniform, and other kit), and another charge which is hard to read on the record. For this, stopped pay, and 112 days in gaol.

If this is our man Isaac Robinson, the authorities clearly thought that although he clearly didn’t fit in with the military life, they were going to keep him on anyway, and so – he shipped out with the regiment to Victoria barracks in Melbourne, Australia in 1861. The 40th Regiment was the military unit who had suppressed the Eureka Rebellion of 1854 in Victoria, and also saw service in Taranaki and Waikato from 1860. Isaac Robinson tried to desert, but was captured, and court martialled yet again on 12 December 1861. Desertion, and losing his necessaries yet again, earned him 160 days in prison. (Source: Various UK naval and military courts martial registers, including records from Naval, Field General, Military, District and General Courts, via Fold3 online.) 

There is also a report from Melbourne that an “Isaac Robertson” of the 40th regiment “was remanded to headquarters,” in July 1862, “to be dealt with for breaking windows, being disorderly, and assaulting James Kelly and a constable.” (Melbourne Age, 8 July 1862) 

It is possible that he was shipped out to New Zealand sometime during 1863, and was based at Te Awamutu by 1864. There is a report of a “John Robinson” of the “14th regiment” being charged with desertion in November 1864 (NZ Herald, 21 November 1864) which could be him, but with details muddled by the newspaper. Indeed, Isaac Robinson does show up again in the military disciplinary hearing records – on trial at Te Awamutu 22 November 1864, for desertion and loss of necessaries. He was sentenced to stopped pay and 112 days in gaol, the prison stay likely at the Mt Eden stockade in Auckland. Robinson was by no means the only deserter from the 40th while in New Zealand. 

After this, it looks like the army had had enough of him. Probably after dishonourable discharge, Robinson was cast out on his own in the colony. In 1865, he was working on trial for Adam Chisholm on Waiheke Island, looking after the latter’s cattle and horses. After just three days, Chisholm apparently found Robinson wanting as an employee, especially considering Robinson had no experience around stock. On 2 September, he told Robinson that he’d better go. 

Robinson’s reaction was to demand £8 in wages: Chisholm had paid him a sum equal to 2s 6d per day for the three days’ work, and his response was that was all he’d pay. Robinson reacted by knocking Chisholm down with a stick, demanding that Chisholm hand over £14 that Chisholm had in his pockets at the time. Robinson took the money, a gun, pair of pistols, two powder-flasks and a box of caps, threatened one Charles Vinning that he’d shoot him if he didn’t clear out, and made his escape. A local Maori, Wiremu Marino, took off in pursuit of the robber, and located Chisholm’s gun at another house on the island. Robinson was caught by Constable Lane of Howick, still carrying most of the items taken from Chisholm’s house. He was sentenced in early December 1865 to three years’ hard labour in the Mt Eden stockade. 

On 3 January 1866, he escaped, and entered Auckland and Waikato history. 

"On the roll being called at the Stockade yesterday, when the prisoners were leaving the works at dinner-time, it was found that a man named Robinson was missing. Strict search was immediately made about the place where the prisoners had been working, as it was thought that Robinson might have concealed himself amongst the stones, possibly with the assistance of others of the gang. He was not, however, found, so that he must have got off unobserved by the warders, and very likely had had two or three hours' start before being missed." 

(Southern Cross, 4 January 1866) 

Reports came in of sightings of him at Mt Albert, going over towards the Whau. At this point, it was fairly easy to spot him – his only clothes were prison gear, boldly marked “M E G” for Mt Eden Gaol. This, however, he soon remedied. 

" … yesterday morning Mrs Griffiths, wife of James Griffiths, residing at Little Muddy Creek, walked in from that place and stated that her husband had been knocked down and severely injured, and that his clothes had been stripped off him. It appears that on Thursday evening Mr. Griffiths was returning from Onehunga to Little Muddy Creek, when, near the Whau blockhouse, he met Robinson, who suddenly struck him a severe blow on the head, which felled him to the ground. Robinson then stripped off Griffiths' clothes, even to his white shirt, and quietly dressed himself in them, first throwing off the prison dress. After he was completely attired he walked briskly away. Mr Griffiths describes his clothes as consisting of a lavender-coloured coat, moth-eaten at the back, dark trousers, and a round felt hat. After recovering himself, Mr Griffiths put on the gaol clothes considerately left for him by Robinson, and managed to walk home, where he is now confined to his bed. Policemen have been despatched by land and water in pursuit of Robinson." 

(Southern Cross, 6 January 1866) 

Robinson then doubled back, walking along the Manukau coastline. He passed through Onehunga at night, and headed for South Auckland. At Flat Bush, among settlers who were none the wiser, he found work with a man named Clow – all while Auckland’s constables were searching the Titirangi bush looking for him far to the west, and towards the Kaipara District. 

Later in the month, two constables, King and McCaffrey, on their usual duties went to Flat Bush, having no idea Robinson might be in their neighbourhood. They recognised him though, at a house belonging to a Mrs Coyle, and immediately seized him. He was returned to the city on 16 January 1866. At the trial, as Griffiths gave his testimony about the attack with his head still bound up, Robinson was reported to have “laughed very heartily at his lugubrious appearance.” Robinson was sentenced to 6 years’ penal servitude on 1 March 1866. 

During this period, it appears Robinson had issues with a former Melbourne policeman, then superintendent of Mt Eden Stockade, Joseph Tuckwell. In September 1866, Tuckwell (according to Robinson) took away his tea and tobacco privileges, and had him gagged with a horse’s bit as a punishment for being too loud. Robinson later claimed that Tuckwell had been corrupt in Melbourne. After an inquiry, the Auckland Provincial superintendent sacked Tuckwell in April 1867, and he returned to Melbourne, setting himself up as a private investigator.

On 17 October 1866, Robinson escaped again. From March up until a few days before his escape, he had been kept under heavy irons, the authorities careful not to just let him walk out of the prison as had happened last time. But, Robinson promised he would be on his best behaviour, and so was relieved of the irons by order of the Visiting Justice. At around 8.30am, while he was working in the mason’s department of the prison work detail, Robinson just slipped away, taking a stone-breaker’s hammer handle with him. In his own words: 

"I was told by Mr Saunders (overseer of labour) to go and split a stone. I went over, and with one blow knocked the head off my hammer. I held it up, and said to one of the keepers that I would have to go to the smith's shop to get another handle. He said, "All right," and I went. I slipped between two lines of clothes that were hanging to dry, and passed beside the prisoners that were washing the clothes. They, of course, made no noise about it."

(Southern Cross, 12 November 1866) 

He hid by an officers’ quarters to the right of the gate, got to the wall, dropped from a height of 10 feet, and legged it out across the paddocks at Khyber Pass. The guards then spotted him – but with women and children nearby, and as Robinson ran close to surrounding houses, only one shot could be fired. The chase was on. 

Several warders took off after him, heading for the Domain. There, Robinson took off his hat and coat, and turned his prison shirt inside out, to conceal the tell-tale marks. He then reached Parnell Road, and began to head for Orakei Bay. Then he veered south, to the Harp of Erin Hotel (where he somehow obtained a glass of water), reaching the Tamaki Road near Panmure Bridge by 11.30 am. 

From there, he doubled back out west on 19 October, on the road from Big Muddy Creek to the Whau district, chatting to a young man and telling him all about who he was, what he’d done to be put in prison the first time, and that he’d like “to get clear of the country”. Swearing the young man to silence, Robinson moved on. The constables found out the following day, and began to track him. 

Robinson met up with a former prisoner from the stockade, and walked with him along the road for a while, chatting – before knocking his companion to the ground and stealing his boots and jacket. These boots, however, didn’t fit – Robinson therefore needed another source of footwear. 

Four miles from Henderson’s Mill, Robinson came upon a house owned by John Lawson, at Lawson’s Creek. After asking a young boy there for bread, he asked where the master of the house was. On being told Lawson was at the stockyard, Robinson headed for that building. A short while later, the boy found his master lying senseless on the ground, bludgeoned about the head. Boots and trousers had been stripped off. The young boy raced to raise the alarm at the nearby saw mill, and Mr Bishop who worked there rode into town to inform the authorities. By the end of October, however, Robinson was still on the loose, last seen heading for bush 12 miles to the south of the city. It is possible that he got a ride on a boat to Maraetai, and headed south from there. 

He was finally recaptured in November in Ngaruawahia, and was quite keen to relate the excitement of his bid for freedom to the newspapers. (Southern Cross, 12 November 1866) By now notorious, Robinson was compared in the press to Jack Sheppard, the 18th century English robber and five-times prison escapee. The public gallery at the court was packed for the 3 December Supreme Court hearing. He was sentenced to four years prison for escaping, and six years for assault and robbery. So far, he had totted up 19 years’ prison sentence in total. 

It wasn’t until 20 March 1872 that Auckland came to hear about Isaac Robinson again. With 16 years to go on his cumulative sentences, he escaped again. Yet again, bizarrely, all the best circumstances for him to flee the prison were offered to him. He was placed at a new part of the gaol, where the securities against escape were slightest and incomplete. He was employed as cleaner-up, with greater liberties – and simply left the prison behind. This time, he was armed with a six-barrelled revolver which had belonged to one of the warders. Within a few hours of his escape, he was sighted at the Whau, and by 21 March it was thought he was sighted in the Waitakere Ranges. 

"A new surmise has arisen with respect to the mysterious disappearance of the escaped convict Robinson. 

"It was between three and four o'clock on Thursday afternoon of the 21st ultimo that Detective Jeffery came upon Robinson on a track leading to a gorge which comes down from the Waitakere range. At this time Robinson was about 35 yards in advance, but seeing the detective on him he turned off in the direction of the bush. Before however he had moved many feet Jeffery raised his revolver, and, taking a deliberate aim, fired at Robinson's body. The next instant Robinson had plunged into the bush, which is here very high, dense, and overgrown with scrub and creepers. Jeffery immediately followed, but was unable to trace the direction which Robinson had taken. 

"From that hour to the present Robinson has never been seen by any one. It is now inferred that the shot fired by the detective took effect, and that after struggling for some time the escaped convict has fallen and died. Any person who is at all acquainted with the character of the Waitakere bush where Robinson was shot will be well able to understand that, if he has crawled into the bush and there died, it would be next to impossible to discover where his body lies. 

"The solution of affairs is a very melancholy one but there is every reason to think it is the correct one. Although not taken, had Robinson been alive he certainly would have been seen and spoken to by some-one as his person is peculiar, and his features strongly marked."

 (Southern Cross 1 April 1872) 

Indeed he would. Which was why the stories of sightings of Robinson sprang up again in August 1872, when the Thames Guardian is said to have reported “on very reliable authority” that Robinson was still very much alive, and had made it to Hokianga. (NZ Herald, 19 August 1872) 

Perhaps, but in April 1873, a somewhat more credible report by the Auckland Star related that instead of heading west, Robinson actually had found refuge at the hotel at Maraetai (the publican knew him) and when two Howick-based constables heard that he was back in the locality, they were put off the scent by the proprietor telling Robinson off for being slack in his duties around the hotel, and for being drunk. After that, he headed back to the Auckland wharves, and boarded the Bella Mary bound for Tasmania, pretending to be a seaman with American whalers. His identity, the report went on, was fairly well confirmed by his visible tattoos. 

"It is satisfactory to know that the province has been relieved of one useless unit of its population, and has been saved the expense of his keep."

(Star, 1 April 1873) 

So, either he lies somewhere in the expanse of the Waitakeres, or ended his days somewhere in the wilds of colonial Australia. Here one minute, gone the next, Isaac Robinson is now just a faded memory in our history.

Thomas Henderson, and his brother David

You know, when I saw so many details were out of kilter in Anthony Flude's two editions of Henderson's Mill, you'd think I would have considered his statement about Thomas Henderson having a brother as just as flawed as some others I've picked up on. Well, no, I thought, he must surely have been right when he said in his email to me:

"One further error was found regarding David Henderson. He was NOT Thomas' Henderson's brother, he had only sisters, but was another member of the family who came out from Scotland."

I even altered my post. But -- he wasn't right at all. Thomas Henderson did have a brother -- David, born two years after him in 1812, one of the keepers of the Whau Hotel. And, to top it off, David, along with his own son, Thomas Henderson's nephew, were at the funeral in Auckland for Thomas in 1886. (Evening Post, 5 July 1886)

"Leading the procession of mourners were Mr. T. Henderson, Mr. H. W. Henderson (sons), Mr. G. Von der Heyde (son-in-law), Mr. David Henderson (brother), and Mr. David Henderson, jun. (nephew of deceased), the other relatives being Messrs. John Marshall, Heath, J. B. Hay, and J. B. Graham."

My thanks to a family history website I found tonight, which pointed me in the right direction. So, of all the "errors" Flude pointed out in my original post on Henderson's Mill, none were in fact errors after all.

As for the post ... I've restored it to the way it was before.

Dr. Thomas Francis McGauran, of Auckland and Melbourne

An article in the April 1973 issue of the Auckland-Waikato Historical Journal caught my eye a couple of weeks ago, entitled, "The Early History of the Auckland Hospital". It was compiled by the then-editor, Mrs. E. Macdonald. One paragraph is the reason why I post this:

"In 1856 Dr. McGauren [sic] was appointed in charge. He reported the most prevalent diseases among Europeans were 'those of the heart, kidneys and liver, the outcome of excessive indulgence in ardent spirits.' In 1858 the provincial surgeon was given authority to admit urgent cases direct to the hospital. In 1859 Dr. McGauren was asked to resign on a charge of incompetancy but, despite protests, no investigations were allowed."

I wondered what on earth lay behind that last sentence. So, I picked up the digital shovel and started to dig.

Thomas Francis McGauran is said to have qualified at the Royal College of Surgeons in England in 1843, and came out to New Zealand, settling in Auckland. McGauran seemed to be ahead of the play with medical practice, importing “a quantity of Vaccine Lymph” for smallpox into the country early in 1844. By then, he’d set himself up in Queen Street, with Dr. O’Neill. (New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, 2 March 1844) By 1849, he was Assistant Colonial Surgeon, and by July 1851 he worked at the Colonial Hospital at the Domain, Auckland’s first hospital. It appears by June 1853, he was out of a job, possibly for political reasons between Lt.-Col. Wynyard and the Coroner, Dr. Davies. (Southern Cross, 10 June 1953)

By 1855, Dr. McGauran was resident in Otahuhu, and by April that year he was a licensed land dealer and auctioneer. (SC, 27 April 1855) In June, he moved to Newmarket. He continued in the business until 26 July 1856, when he was appointed Provincial Surgeon for the Lunatic Asylum, hospital and stockade after the death of William Davies five days before. (SC, 29 July 1856) There had already been letters to newspaper editors complaining that the Provincial Surgeon (Dr. Davies at the time) had too many positions to give either of them enough of his time. Now, Dr. McGauran faced the same situation.

“The duties of the provincial Surgeon are, we believe, to take charge of or attend upon
1 The Hospital
2 The Lunatic Asylum
3 The Stockade
4 The Gaol
5 The Lock Up
6 The Police station and Police cases; also
7 To board the Emigrant ships.”

(SC, 4 December 1857)

And for all this responsibility, McGauran was paid £300 per annum, around $30,290 in today’s money. (Estimate of the Expenditure of the Province of Auckland, for the Year 1858, from SC, 23 February 1858) From the end of that year, the salary rose to £350, or around $35,300. (SC, 26 November 1858)

He was the first to publicly appeal for the creation of a library for the lunatic asylum, then in a building on the Domain beside the provincial hospital. (SC, 14 October 1856)

By April 1859, he was president of the Auckland Medical and Surgical Society, and ran his own practice from Auckland, having been replaced as Provincial Surgeon by Dr. Philson. At the time it was put to the public that he had officially been dismissed from the post of Provincial Surgeon due to an absence of some hours from the hospital. (SC, 25 October 1859) However, it turned out that he had been accused of being “of too great intimacy with a female patient” (SC, 2 March 1860) named Pemberton. (SC, 24 February 1860) The Provincial Council members heard and read testimony against Dr. McGauran behind closed doors, in “Star Chamber” as one member later put in the 1860, and decided to dismiss McGauran based on the charges, one of which Dr. Daniel Pollen refused to disclose or divulge due to confidentiality, despite councillor’s protests when the decision was reviewed in 1860. “The impression given by Dr. Pollen would be that there was lewdness which made it unfit for public gaze,” according to one councillor. General feeling in Auckland seems to have been divided between McGauran’s exoneration of character or whether he had indeed committed some form of indiscretion. He still remained within the medical profession, apparently.

In July 1859, soon after his sacking, he was the Surgeon Superintendent for the Metropolitan Infirmary and Dispensary, where “the sick poor and others can obtain medical and surgical relief.” This was set up at a meeting at the Victoria Hotel on 6 July 1859, with a who’s-who for a committee: J. F. Boylan, Patrick Dignan, Reader Wood, Daniel Lynch, F. McMillan, Joseph May, H. Hardington, W. Britton, Thomas Poynton, James George, M Fahy, J. O’Neill, and McGauran himself. (SC, 12 July 1859) This venture didn’t last beyond that year.

In early 1862, he undertook a three week tour of the Lakes District of the North Island, and is said to have met Potatau II, the Maori King, there. (SC, 9 May 1862; Otago Witness, 14 June 1862) At that point, he announced that he was leaving the country. (Advertisement, SC, 4 April 1862)

Then, the Australian part of his career began. This isn't known in much detail, except for the following:

"(New South Wales) THE MAORI CHIEFS.-We understand that, by the desire of his Excellency the Governor, the Maori Chiefs now sojourning in this city were taken yesterday morning to Government House, accompanied by Dr. McGauran, where they were introduced to his Excellency"

Courier (Brisbane, Qld.) Thursday 17 July 1862

"The "New Zealand Warriors" who have been performing here at the Lyceum Theatre have had a disagreement with their padrone, Dr. McGauran, and have summoned him to appear at the Police Office to-morrow for breach of agreement. One of these Maories, I see, signs himself Tamati Hopimaua-a name, if I mistake not, rather famous during the late operations in the Taranaki district.

"The dispute between Dr. McGauran and his " New Zealand Warriors " has been thus far settled by the bench ordering each party to give up the goods they held belonging to the other."

Courier (Brisbane, Qld.) Wednesday 20 August 1862

By October, although the show was successful in Sydney, it apparently bombed in Melbourne. (Otago Witness, 18 October 1862)

(Update, 4 June 2009: Jayne has found in the Victorian Gazettes online that T. F. McGauran passed a civil service exam in Melbourne in September 1863, for work at the Immigration Hospital, gazetted 17th September of that year. Thanks, Jayne!)

In 1874 comes the Gunner Dagwell case, apparently where a Dr. McGauran in Melbourne mis-diagnosed typhoid fever as delirium tremens. Dagwell committed suicide and was buried with full military honours. The doctors connected with the case were exonerated. (Brisbane Courier, 13 August 1874)

There's nothing further, until a death notice for one Thomas Francis McGauran, son of Thomas Francis McGauran, appearing in the Argus in 1916.

On the 18th August, 1916, at "Hazelmere” 250 Glebe Road, Glebe Point, Sydney NSW. Thomas Francis McGauran (late of Lands Dept., Melbourne), dearly loved husband of Kathleen; beloved father of Mary and Thomas, eldest son of the late Dr. T. F. McGauran assistant medical officer of Melbourne); 71 years. May his soul rest in peace.

(Argus, 21 August 1916)

Some of T. F. McGauran junior’s maps can be found today on the National Library of Australia website, like this one.

If anyone from Melbourne would like to help fill in more of the story, feel free.

(Update 23 October 2012) Stew Barr from Melbourne has pointed out a link to the database for the Public Record Office in Victoria. A probate entry is there for a surgeon, Thomas F McGauran, dying on 27 September 1875. He had resided at Bunya Bunya cottage, Acland Street in St Kilda.

The metal roads of Avondale and Mt Albert

I found a brief paragraph in, of all places, the Poverty Bay Herald from 3 July 1888, which gives an example of how the early roads, paid for and maintained by Auckland's communities in the last quarter of the 19th century, really mattered.

"It has often been remarked that in some districts the roads of one portion are damaged by carting material during the winter months for the repairing of another road. An apt illustration of this fact is now taking place in the vicinity of Auckland. It appears that the Avondale Road Board applied to the Hon. the Minister of Public Works, and received a gift of 500 yards of metal broken by the unemployed at the foot of Mount Eden. This grant is said to have been made for repairing a portion of the Great North Road, which had been injured by carting bricks for the new wing of the Asylum from the Avondale brickyards.

"To repair that piece of road drays are now engaged in carting these 500 yards of broken metal right through the Mount Albert District, thus damaging four miles of the main road through Mount Albert, which the ratepayers of that district formed, made, and gave to the public free of expense, and for which they have been taxing themselves to keep in repair for ordinary traffic for over 20 years.

"If there are any circumstances under which the imposition of a heavy toll for carting metal is justifiable it is surely in this case, and could only be looked on as a measure of self-defence on the part of the Mount Albert rate payers, We understand that the Mount Albert Road Board have telegraphed a remonstrance to the Hon. the Minister of Public Works, pointing out the injustice of this action. "

Basically, until the coming of concrete and then sealed roads, and until the roads themselves became strategic highways and therefore sorted out on a government level, this kind of thing went on and on between the road boards. At the turn of the century, there was quibbling even over who was going to sort out the Oakley Creek Bridge. There's a story there -- some day, I may have time to write about it.

Ben Copedo, and the mill wheel at Mill Cottage

Continuing from Henderson's Mill:

Ben Copedo is one of West Auckland's foremost historians and researchers. I have the highest regard for him and his work, because he questions everything, checks everything, and publishes research that helps others following behind. Now and then, sometimes more frequently during some periods than others, I call him up on the phone with a question, or to tell him about something I've found which I think he'll be interested in -- and he always is. I consider him one of the major influences on the way I go about my own research.

He's given me some feedback, and aside from some typos (whoops!), his comment is regarding the site of the original mill (not so much "near" the confluence of the two rivers, but 700-800 metres up from it), and regarding the model mill wheel there today. I used the term "replica" -- Ben quite rightly pointed out it isn't a replica, for these reasons (quoting his notes sent to me): it is ..

"An approximately half size example of a water wheel with a small workshop behind it was built in 1995 to celebrate Henderson's official sesquicentary. The original water wheel may have been 6 feet (1.8m) wide and 18 feet (5.5m) in diameter and was almost certainly "overshot" and not "low breast shot" as is the one at present on display."

The model was built by David Harre (noted for, amongst other things, his rescue work with old trams) with funding from the local licensing trust, Waitakere City Council took control, but today it is administered (I've checked with a member of the WAHS committee today) by the West Auckland Historical Society.

More on Hendersons Mill

Anthony Flude’s revised edition of Henderson’s Mill (2008) costs around $30 retail. Right now, I wouldn’t buy it at that price. I don’t think it’s worth it, given the errors within it, and that it’s mainly an extended version of the original from 1977. I may buy it at perhaps half the price, in a second hand bookstore, but that would be if I could spare the $15. It has some value as a reference book, and an attempt has been made to extend the index, but its lack of source crediting and reliance on non-contemporary sources of information aside from some Archives New Zealand records and one book from the 19th century means I just can’t trust it for accuracy.

Instead, I borrowed a copy from New Lynn library today for this review of some of the facts around the story of the mill.

My previous posts on Henderson’s Mill, part of my interest in locating the mill in history (geographically, it’s been fairly well sussed), are here : Henderson's Mill, and Flude's emails.

The Lucidan

The Lucidan name is now applied to the schooner Henderson traded to Ngati Whatua in the 2008 edition. (p. 22) According to Flude, it was purchased by Henderson & Macfarlane in 1843, and he has reproduced an early advertisement (both statement and ad are unsourced).

He hasn’t offered a theory as to why the name is different in Thomas Henderson’s own submissions to the government the following decade, which he hasn’t reprinted from the 1977 edition, but included in the body of the text (pp.48-49). There, he corrects Thomas Henderson’s reference.

Update 3 June 2009: Ben Copedo thought one answer to why the name is different in the Thomas Henderson statement may have been because perhaps it was a transcript, written by a legal clerk, and not Henderson himself. We'll never know for sure, but that sounds plausible, at least.

The John Bull

Flude’s statement in 1977 that the sale of the John Bull financed the building of Henderson’s saw mill in West Auckland in 1849-1849 has now been changed. In his 2008 edition, he has it that in 1846, Thomas Henderson purchased the John Bull in Sydney, sailed her to Auckland, loaded her up with Waitakere Ranges kauri, and sent John Macfarlane to Hobart with the consignment. There, the market depressed, Macfarlane exchanged ship and cargo for a consignment of flour, which was delivered back to Auckland and fetch a high price. The partners purchased the scow Mazeppa with the proceeds.

From Papers Past, we see that the John Bull in March 1846 was captained by Twohey, and had H. R. Cretnay as an agent. No sign in the shipping notices that Henderson & Macfarlane owned or were agents for the John Bull at this time. Cretnay was still the agent in March 1847. In September 1847, we see David Nathan has become the shipping agent for the John Bull, now captained by George Clinch, and Nathan was still agent at the end of 1848.

I believe the John Bull can be discounted from this period of the Henderson & Macfarlane story. Flude doesn’t say where he got either version (1977 or 2008) of his story from – but it does appear to be in error, compared with contemporary records.

As for the Mazeppa – this, also, had H. R. Cretnay as an agent in May 1846. I can’t find any association between that ship and Henderson & Macfarlane. In March 1859, it was owned by Jardine, Matheson & Co, and was lost off the coast of China.

Pheasants

Flude claims (pp. 31-32) that Thomas Henderson was the first to introduce pheasants into New Zealand. This website says they’d been introduced over time since 1842.

Update, 3 June 2009: Historian and researcher Anne Stewart Ball has very kindly emailed me with some further info on the introduction of pheasants into the Auckland Province: a presentation was made before the NZ Institute in 1869 by Captain F. W. Hutton who credited Thomas Henderson as being first in the province in 1851. (Elsewhere, it was reported that Canterbury immigrants brought pheasants into the country as Canterbury was settled. I did read in the papers from the 1840s that at least the first shipment died soon after reaching here).

The Spencer

Flude, in his email to me of 27 May 2009, said:

“The Mill upgrade funds were gained as the result of the sale of the ship and cargo of kauri timber on the Brigantine SPENCER 1849, published later in the NZ Herald at the time of his death.”

But, his 2008 book says (p. 32):

“In 1852, speculating there would be an increased demand for exported timber, Henderson & Macfarlane purchased the brig Spencer.”

Here are notes from research into the Southern Cross newspaper:

SC, 14 April 1852 -- Henderson & Macfarlane as agents for the 222 ton brig Spencer, master C. J. Martin.

SC 15 February 1853 --Coombes & Daldy agents for Spencer, J. C. Martin

SC, 22 February 1853 -- H & M agents for Spencer.

Coombes & Daldy again in March

21 June 1853 -- H&M again.

SC, 22 November 1853 -- H&M agents for Spencer, now captained by Captain Wootton

SC, 24 February 1854 --Reported loss of the Spencer, H&M as owners, J. B. Wootton, captain.

So, yes, Henderson & Macfarlane owned the Spencer, but no, they did not sell it in 1849 to pay for building Henderson’s Mill.

McLeod and Haskell

Flude does not mention, in either the 1977 nor the 2008 editions, the partnership of John McLeod and Cyrus Haskell, who managed the saw mill at Henderson from late 1854 until the partnership broke up by mutual consent in January 1858.

Notes from Southern Cross:

SC, 1 December 1854 -- McLeod & Haskell apply for carpenters, good axemen and labourers at Henderson’s Saw Mills.

SC, 3 December 1855 - Advertisement from McLeod & Haskell, for “a man possessing a knowledge of measuring and handling sawn timber.”

Partnership of John McLeod and Cyrus Haskell ended 18 January 1858. (SC, 26 January 1858)

Not a lot is known about Cyrus Haskell. In February 1858, his name appears on a jury list as a “bush overseer, Henderson’ bush” (SC, 16 February 1858), and in February he was a sawyer, same location. (SC, 7 February 1860) He appears to have been living in Graham Street close to Freeman’s Bay by 1865. (SC, 8 April 1865)

John McLeod, the other partner, is known in Henderson histories as “Long” John McLeod, to differentiate him from “Shepherd” John McLeod who looked after Thomas Henderson’s Delta Farm (Flude, 2008, p. 38). The partnership with Haskell may have expired by as early as August 1856 – only McLeod’s name is on an ad for bush workers then (19 August 1856), for “men who are thoroughly acquainted with working in a saw mill” (SC, 18 May 1857), for “splitters and sawyers” (SC, 7 August 1857). Flude says that McLeod left Henderson in 1859 (not long after the partnership ceased). By 1863, he had established his steam saw mill on the Kaipara. (SC, 31 March 1864)

The 1858 auction

This wasn’t referred to in Flude’s 2008 edition.

According to the Southern Cross, 30 April 1858, auctioneers Hardington & Wood arranged to begin “periodical auction sales” at “the mill of Henderson & Macfarlane” to suit demand from settlers in the “District of Upper Waitemata, South”. There may only have been one attempt at such an auction, however.

The items on offer are interesting:

Several Plough, Draught and Saddle horses
Some Milk Cows and heifers
A team of Working Bullocks, with yokes, bows and chains
150,000 feet of sawn timber, 1st and 2nd quality
1 weatherboard house 18 feet by 12
1 weatherboard house 20 feet by 14
1 weatherboard shed 120 feet by 16
1 weatherboard shed 140 feet by 16
1 weatherboard shed 160 feet by 16
6 off-bearing barrows
2 crowding barrows
3 Navie barrows
Spades, shovels, hoes, rakes etc.

Were existing buildings at the mill site being sold off – or was Henderson & Macfarlane diversifying into the construction of simple settler cottages and sheds? Also, a “crowding barrow” is also called a kiln barrow – used around firing kilns, as in brickworks. An “off-bearing barrow” is also used in brickmaking. Was there a simple (and very early) brickyard at or near the mill?

The 1864 Mill Sale

Flude states that in 1862 production at the mill began to slow due to lack of trees. (p. 57) That’s quite possible – it also ties in with a drought over the summer of 1862-1863 which caused the river levels to drop region-wide, reducing the ability of mill owners to transport their timber downstream.

“One arrival during the month (that of the Chilean barque “Dominga,” from Puget Sound), was a novelty in our port, so far as the cargo is concerned. She brought a cargo of sawn timber, &c, from Oregon, to Messrs. Henderson and Macfarlane, well-known timber merchants of Auckland. The reason for this strange importation, which is like carrying coals to Newcastle, is a measure owing to the scarcity of water during the summer, preventing the floating of logs to the various saw-mills of the province, so that with an increasing home consumption which could not be supplied, and with orders from a distance which could not be executed, it was deemed proper to supplement the home produce by a cargo of imported stuff. The development of our timber trade is a branch of business which has attracted considerable enterprise and capital, and we have little doubt in a short time it will be unnecessary to have recourse to imports to supplement our home production.”

(SC, 6 April 1863)

The mill was up for sale in August 1864, along with 5,000 acres of land, including the saw mill (suitable either water or steam power), suitable residence for manager, house accommodation for 100 workmen, store, farm buildings, granary, stables, cowsheds, stockyards, and numerous outbuildings. (SC, 2 August 1864)

Henderson & Macfarlane as a company was already diversifying away from timber supply. By 1860, it appears they had a mill near the bottom of Drake Street at Freeman’s Bay. They sold stock at this mill by auction in May 1860 (SC, 29 May 1860), including “pollard, bran etc., and the whole collected Mill stuff and feeding material.” 1861, J. G. Soppet leased the “Wyndham-street Corn Mill”. (SC, 22 January 1861), converted to a bone mill by 1865. His advertising always included reference to Henderson & Macfarlane’s stores.

I’ve located an “old mill and shed” located along Dock Street, between Dock Street and present-day Halsey Street, in 1866/67 (Vercoe Map). In 1866, there were two or three jetties, fronting onto Freeman’s Bay pre-reclamation. Somewhere there, “near the end of Drake Street” (now part of Victoria Street) may have been Henderson & Macfarlane’s other mill.

What’s in a name?

According to Flude (pp. 35-36, 2008 edition), Thomas Henderson dropped the name Dundee Saw Mills in 1854 after upgrading the mill, and officially called it Henderson’s Mill. Perhaps – but in July 1862, Henderson advertised for an experienced engineer or millwright for the “Dundee Saw Mills” (SC, 16 July 1862), and the first-known horse races in Henderson were run in January that year as the “Dundee Saw Mill Races.” (SC, 14 January 1862) Flude says the races started earlier, in 1858 (p.43). I can’t find a record to substantiate this.

Update 5 June 2009: I've been gathering together more bits and pieces about the mill and those associated with it over the past few days, and have found that the earliest reference to date (via the Southern Cross and Papers Past) is from a letter published by the Southern Cross (31 March 1857) , dated three days earlier, from John McLeod. His address is given as Dundee Saw Mills.

As an aside … Dr. Pollen’s brickworks and John Thomas’ Star Mill

Flude repeats the incorrect tradition (p. 40, 2008 edition) that Daniel Pollen started his brickworks on the Whau River in 1852. Unfortunately, the real date is later – most likely sometime around 1860, when he employed John Malam as a manager there. See this post.

On p. 66, Flude talks about John Thomas’ Star Mill. As at 1865, according to Flude, the “flour building had already been sold to keep his business going, and later became Garrett Bros. tannery. It burnt down in 1873, and was replaced by a three storey building.”

Well, no – the mill wasn’t sold until 1878, when the mill, and the land it was on, was finally sold to the Garrett Brothers. When the first mill burned in 1873, it was owned by John Thomas’ son John, and Thomas Barraclough. See Terminus.

Will this be the last post on the mill at Henderson? Probably not -- noted Henderson local historian Ben Copedo is reviewing my original post, and has said he'll send some comments through on it. I'm pleased with the information that has come out of this so far, anyway.